My daughter is 5 years old and had an ANA reaction at 3 yrs of age after eating a sliver of cashew nut. That's how we found out she's allergic to peanuts, many of the tree nuts and sesame. My son is 2 years old and his diet is very very limited. Mainly because I am SCARED to death of giving him any new foods for fear he will have a life threatening reaction. Obviously I will not give him anything that my daughter is allergic to but I'm talking about new fruits, new vegetables. I am almost paranoid to the point I feel like I cannot handle it anymore and will go crazy. Even foods that my daughter is NOT allergic to, I cannot even bring myself to introduce them to him. I want him to try new things but I worry he might be allergic.

Could someone please shed some light as to how you approached introducing new foods to your 2nd child after finding out your 1st has allergies. Thank you.

Have you seen an allergist? Does your son show any sign of allergy (eczema, asthma)? Our second didn't have any signs and we tried new foods cautiously. We did try milk and eggs at home carefully but with epipen close by. He was fine. We had him tested for peanut with the allergist and he is fine. I would urge you to see a doctor and sort out his diet. Don't live in fear! There is no need to restrict his diet if there isn't an allergy. You don't want his diet deficient in any way.

_________________13 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, tree nuts and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema10 year old son - no allergies

When I asked, my daughter's allergist told us that my son would not be tested until he was 3 years of age, or if he had an allergic reaction, whichever came first. And only upon referral/recommendation by the pediatrician.

We have taken my son to the hospital ER several times in the past year and it seemed like it was always after he had tried eggs he would vomit, but not immediately, maybe after several hours. However, the ER doctors always told us it didn't seem like he had an allergic reaction because he only vomitted and never had any rash/hives. When we would take him to the pediatrician after these ER visits, the pediatrician would brush it off as a stomach flu-bug of some sort, and not an egg allergy or reaction so we were never allowed to get the referral to see the allergist. To this day, my son has not had eggs again, because we just don't know if he is allergic or if it was just coincidence. This is mainly the reason why I am scared of introducing any new foods to him.

I don't see why your pediatrician is waiting to refer given family history. We all know that an allergic reaction does not have to include hives. Why don't you push for a referral to the allergist since you suspect that your child had an egg reaction? Why wait and be fearful? There is really no reason to wait until 3 for testing. Our daughter was tested at 14 months at Sick Kids in Toronto. They didn't hesitate to test her. Tell your pediatrician that you are fearful of allergies and trying new food and that lack of a definitive diagnosis is affecting his day to day life and yours!

_________________13 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, tree nuts and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema10 year old son - no allergies

Many allergists are resistant to test a food allergy unless there's been a confirmed reaction because the test can cause false positives. It's more of a confirmation tool rather than a predictor tool.

Our allergist's focus is to avoid reactions while keeping the diet as least restricted as possible. He won't test a food unless there's been a reaction. Yes, vomitting can be a reaction but it can also be caused by lots of other things, too.

Tell your pediatrician that your concerns about your son's possibility of becoming allergic is causing you to withold introduction of new foods and that you want/need/demand a referral to an allergist to consult on the best possible ways to introduce new foods. This in my mind is enough of a reason for a referral.

Here are two threads about introducing new foods. Lol, I seem to repeat myself but you might find something in them. Anyways, it's always good to know your not alone in your worries!

Thank you Katec and Susan for your replies. I really appreciate your support. And thank you for directing me to the links to the previous topics.

My daughter has an appt with the pediatrician in a couple of weeks, I think I will bring my son along and request that we get a referral for my son to get tested. This pediatrician usually has a big ego problem and doesn't like his patients to tell him what to do so I'll have to strategize how to get him to refer us. (if I could find another pediatrician in the area I would, but that's a totally diff't topic)

Our son is allergic to nuts and sesame seeds and was tested when he was 2.
Our daughter is 14 months and was just tested for all nuts and eggs (our son was allergic to eggs but outgrew that allergy). Our pediatrician referred us and our allergic tests children (our daughter was 9 months when tested for egg). Our challenge now is that one child is allergic to some foods and the other is not. We have our 15 month old go to peanut butter and nutella snack days over at our friend's house every few weeks in order to keep her exposed to these foods. I hope you get the referral sooner than later and good luck!

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